Blogging: easy money and glamour…or waste of time?

Blogging has undoubtedly taken off over the last few years. It seems like everyone is blogging these days: moms, teenagers, self-proclaimed chefs, fashion lovers and techies to name a few. Successful bloggers in the fashion industry are invited to exclusive fashion shows in Paris, have front row seats at New York Fashion Week and mingle with elite fashion designers and supermodels. Even 15-year old, Tavi Gevinson, who started blogging at age 11, has been able to make a name for herself in the industry and was recently sitting front row next to Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour in New York.

It seems pretty simple, right? Pick something you love to talk about, create a website and just talk about it. Wrong. According to Forbes, there are more than 20 million bloggers and only a mere 2% make a successful living. If there are so many bloggers out there and so few that can make a living doing it, is it worth the time and dedication needed to establish your blog and to gain the attention of advertisers? What makes some bloggers stand apart from all the others? Social Media Today credits SEO, keywords, buzz and  constant maintenance amongst other things to creating a successful blog. Although it seems simple for anyone to launch his or her own blog, the blogger needs to have basic marketing, especially online and Internet marketing, knowledge in order to compete in the cut throat blogger industry.

Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are jackpots for blogs. If a person reads a blog and shares the link with his or her friends or followers on a social media outlet, the blog is broadcast, for free, to that person’s network. An added bonus is that Millennials, 18-34 year olds and those who spend much of their time online, trust word of mouth over any other kind of advertising. In other words, they will be more likely to follow a blog if a friend or family member recommends it rather than if they discovered the blog through a paid advertisement.

To blog or not to blog? If you’re thinking of starting a blog, by all means, go for it! You’ll be sharing your thoughts, ideas and comments about something you enjoy talking about and you may even earn some money while doing it. But, before your blogging career truly takes off, don’t quit your day job. Blogging on the side is the perfect way to dabble in the field without fully jumping onboard not knowing where your career will end up.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/14/blogging-career-income-personal-finance-blog-income.html

http://www.thestylerookie.com/

http://socialmediatoday.com/index.php?q=zubinkutar/212318/what-makes-blog-successful